Our History
HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH OF GRAND RAPIDS, AND
FIRST REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
Prepared by Rev. Ray B. Lanning
BEGINNINGS: The ARP Fellowship of Grand Rapids
The Associate Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, MI, began with the formation of the “Committee to Plant an ARP Church in West Michigan” on Tuesday, February 8, 2000. The committee met at the invitation of Rev. Ray B. Lanning, an ARP minister living in Grand Rapids. Rev. Lanning was elected chairman. Doug Sikma was elected secretary, and Sid Bush was elected treasurer. Richard Basala and Ed Robinson agreed to serve as members at large.
The goal of the committee was made clear to everyone from the beginning. As the committee’s name indicates, the goal was to seek organization as a congregation of the ARP Church in connection with Northeast Presbytery. The first task at hand was to gather a fellowship of likeminded persons who shared this goal.
The first meeting of the ARP Fellowship was held Wednesday, February 9, 2000, in the facilities of Baker Book House, 2768 East Paris Avenue SE. The large meeting room was filled to capacity. Providentially, Rev. Lanning had purchased a large number of copies of The Psalter Hymnal, published in 1927 by the United Presbyterian Church, and originally belonging to First ARP Church of Charlotte, NC. These songbooks were now put to good use as our first book of praise; although it was agreed from the first not to make use of the 150 or so “uninspired compositions” or hymns included in the book.
Sabbath day services began on February 13, 2000, Morning Worship at 11 o’clock and Evening Worship at 7 o’clock; later both services were moved back one hour to 10 AM and 6 PM. These first services were well attended. The order for worship was taken from the Westminster Divines’ Directory for the Publick Worship of God (1647). An additional Psalm was appointed to be sung after the reading of Holy Scripture, and it was decided to follow the Dutch Reformed practice of reading the Ten Commandments in the morning, and using the Apostles’ Creed as a confession of faith at night. It was also decided to use the Lord’s Prayer at the conclusion of the prayer before the morning sermon. Not long afterward it was felt prudent to add “pre-service songs” to be sung by the congregation before the commencement of public worship; these songs were also selected from The Psalter.
Some members of the ARP Fellowship objected to the use of musical instruments in public worship as Biblically without warrant under the gospel. Since no instruments were available, it was decided to do without. With the aid of precentor and pitchpipe, we discovered the beauty of singing the Psalms with no accompaniment. Members and visitors often comment on how this practice makes the encounter with the words of the Psalm much more distinct and impressive. Our first precentor was Shawn Anderson. Steven Carr, Craig Shoemaker, and James Lanning have also served as precentors. Our success with “non-instrumentality” was so persuasive that we have continued to adhere to this practice even when a piano or organ is available.
Rather than purchase a manse, the congregation decided to help the Lannings rehabilitate an old house they had purchased in the city’s centrally located Heritage Hill neighborhood. With many hands helping the work was speedily accomplished. The Lannings moved into 415 Paris Avenue SE on August 15, 2000. They have made their home a center for the life of the congregation, hosting session and YPCU meetings, bridal showers, seniors’ luncheons, Wednesday night Psalmsings and prayer meetings during the summer, and many other meetings large and small.
A number of students from area colleges joined the fellowship, and they demonstrated their commitment to this new work in a very tangible way. They pooled their funds to purchase a large and beautifully bound copy of the King James Version of the Holy Bible for our pulpit. It has been used for our Sabbath day services from the very first. Offering baskets were donated by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Basala, and by Mrs. Grace Walma. Other members furnished supplies and refreshments for coffee hours to follow the close of Morning Worship and our Wednesday night meetings.
OUR BOOK OF PRAISE
Funds were soon available for the purchase of 100 copies of The Psalter of 1912. Since we were all of a mind to use only the Psalms as our worship songs, we considered several different metrical versions of the Psalms currently in print. We settled on The Psalter because of its textual beauty, its musical variety, and its familiarity to many of us from previous experience. We have been very happy with this choice.
Because The Psalter is published today for use in Dutch Reformed churches, it includes the full text of the Heidelberg Catechism. Rev. Lanning was asked to follow the practice of preaching a sermon from one of the 52 portions or “Lord’s Days” of the Catechism at one of the Sabbath day services, at least once a month or more often if he so decided.
Another feature of The Psalter is the “Chorale Section” containing 35 English versions of selected texts from the Dutch Psalter, set to their proper Genevan tunes. Many of these are special favorites in our congregation and we sing them frequently. Sadly, very few are found in other Psalters or hymnals available today. We enjoy singing the Psalms as they were known to Calvin and his flock at Geneva, and to many generations of Reformed believers in The Netherlands.
We also began holding Sabbath school classes for children and adults. The children were instructed from the Shorter Catechism and encouraged to begin learning it by heart. The adults met together for study and discussion of the Westminster Confession of Faith under the leadership of Rev. Lanning and other men of the congregation.
Wednesday night meetings for Psalmsinging, Bible study, and prayer were continued. On Saturday nights those who came to set up chairs for Sabbath worship stayed on for Psalmate Domino (Latin for “Sing Ye Psalms unto the Lord”), a session devoted to rehearsing the psalm selections for the Sabbath to follow, and learning new tunes from The Psalter. The youth of the congregation also began meeting on Saturday nights as the Young People’s Christian Union. A men’s fellowship breakfast on Monday mornings was instituted but later discontinued.
A petition for organization was presented to Northeast Presbytery. Members of Presbytery’s Church Extension Committee (Outreach Northeast), Rev. Messrs. Alan Avera, Herschel Carlson, and John van Eyk, visited Grand Rapids Tuesday and Wednesday, March 28-29, 2000, to meet with Rev. Lanning, the fellowship, and the steering committee. On their recommendation, our petition was granted by Northeast Presbytery at its Spring Meeting, April 6-7, 2000.
ORGANIZATION AS AN ARP CHURCH
On Wednesday, May 24, 2000, Presbytery’s Commission conducted the service of organization in the sanctuary of Oakhill Presbyterian Church, 1930 Leonard Street NE, loaned for this purpose. The ARP Fellowship became the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Grand Rapids. Commission members were Rev. John van Eyk, Chaplain Barry Wells (USAF), and Mr. Campbell Taylor, Ruling Elder from Riverside ARP Church, Cambridge, ON. Special guests included Rev. Dwight L. Pearson, D.D., Moderator of the General Synod, and Rev. G.J. Gerard, Principal Clerk of Northeast Presbytery.
Messrs. Parnell McCarter, Ed Robinson, and Doug Sikma were ordained as ruling elders for a term of four years. Later, Vic Ondersma was elected as to fill Mr. McCarter’s unexpired term. Previously ordained, Vic was installed as ruling elder on Sabbath, May 20, 2001. A directory of “Members and Friends of the ARP Church of Grand Rapids” was prepared and printed by Rieta Bonner and Adam Boone.
Though away for the summer hiking the Appalachian Trail, Jeff Wykstra was elected congregational treasurer. Rev. Lanning was installed as our minister on Wednesday, September 6, 2000, by Presbytery’s Commission, Rev. Messrs. John van Eyk and Ben Wilford, and the ruling elders of our church. Election of deacons was postponed to the end of the year. Dick Bonner and Jeff Wykstra were chosen as deacons at the first annual congregational meeting on Wednesday, December 6, 2000, and were ordained and installed into office on Sabbath, January 7, 2001, during Evening Worship.
OUR FIRST COMMUNION SERVICE
The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was first administered on Sabbath, July 16, 2000. Initially communion ware was loaned to us by Dutton United Reformed Church. Later, a set of communion ware was presented to the church by Rev. and Mrs. Mark Zylstra of Allendale, MI; this set has since been enhanced with a cover for the patens or bread trays, new lifters (plain knobs to replace the cross-shaped ones) for the covers, and a special bottle for filling the cups. Rev. and Mrs. Lanning presented the church with a “fair white linen cloth” for the communion table. For the administration of holy baptism, the Lannings provided a large silver basin with a glass liner and matching silver cover, which has served the purpose very well.
Prior to the first communion service, the congregation witnessed our first public professions of faith in Christ from Brian Anderson, Shannon Eshelman, and Lydia Malysa. The sacrament of Holy Baptism was first administered on Sabbath, June 10, 2001, to Alexander David Sikma, infant son of Doug and Connie Sikma, born May 30, 2001.
Three young people of the congregation, James Lanning, Matt Robinson, and Ben Sikma, went to Mexico for a missions work project, March 29-April 6, 2001, in connection with Heritage Netherlands Reformed Church of Grand Rapids. Session recorded the first deaths in the congregation in June 2001. Katherine Clark, adherent, passed away on June 22, and Marinus Westrate, communicant, on June 27.
The first marriage solemnized was that of Nathan Eshelman and Lydia Malysa, on Friday, March 1, 2002. The marriage service in the chapel of Reformed Bible College was attended by the whole congregation. Rev. Lanning officiated, preaching from Psalm 128.
Supply preachers have included Rev. Mark Jones, Rev. Charles Krahe, Rev. Gerben Malda, Mr. Donald Vanderklok, Rev. Kenneth Smith, and Student Foppe VanderZwaag.
In May 2002 our congregation gained national attention as the home church of Calvin McCarter. Calvin is a baptized member of our congregation. On May 22 Calvin, age 10, became the youngest-ever winner of the National Geographic Bee held in Washington, DC, earning a $25,000 college scholarship.
A CHANGE IN OUR CHURCH NAME
In early 2002 the session, with the advice of the congregation, decided to shorten the name of our church to the Associate Reformed Church of Grand Rapids. This name was chosen because it was the historic name of our denomination for many years, and because we thought it would better serve to identify our church and what we stand for to people in our part of the country.
One highlight of 2002 was a “Joint Psalm Sing” on Friday evening, October 1, held in the sanctuary of the Charlotte, MI, Christian Reformed Church, and sponsored by our congregation and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Southfield, MI. Rev. Lanning and Rev. Iain Wise combed through our respective books of praise, and put together a program for the evening, moving between the “blue” Psalter and the “red” Book of Psalms for Singing.
Our first elders were elected to three-year terms. As the end of those terms approached in May 2003, the congregation was asked to choose between continuing to follow the “rotary system,” with limited terms of service for elders, or to adopt the older system of elders serving unlimited terms. It was decided to adopt the latter. Doug Sikma was re-elected to the office of ruling elder; but Vic Ondersma asked to be released from service due to age. Deacon Richard Bonner was elected to the office ruling elder. At the time it was felt that a full-fledged diaconate was not necessary for a small congregation, so no deacon was elected to fill Dick’s place. Our remaining deacon and congregational treasurer, Jeff Wykstra, was added to the session as a non-voting member “ex officio.” Vic was honored with the status of “ruling elder emeritus.”
OUR SACRAMENTAL FORMS
In administering the sacraments, we have used existing forms or devised forms of our own. The “Form for the Administration of Baptism” printed in The Psalter has long been used in Dutch Reformed churches, and because in outline and content it conforms to the provisions of The Directory for the Publick Worship of God, we have used this form from the beginning. Rev. Lanning drew up a form for administering the Lord’s Supper according to the same Directory, and it was used until the fall of 2006. Since that time we have used two alternative forms, first, one adapted from the communion service of John Knox and long used in Scotland, and the second, adapted from the Book of Common Prayer (Church of England, 1662).
ADDRESSING MATTERS OF CONTROVERSY
Theological controversies have not been a feature of our experience as a congregation, but one or two should be noted. Some of our charter members were “theonomists,” and this fact gave offense to other members, and at least one family withdrew from the church in protest. Our session took the position that some form of theonomy had its adherents among the Reformers and the fathers of Scottish Presbyterianism, and some aspects of theonomy are taught in all Reformed churches today. Theonomists could have a place among us as a church, provided they understood and accepted the fact that the Standards of the ARPC did not support theonomy, at least in regard to the office and work of the civil magistrate; and therefore theonomy, or that aspect of it, could not be taught in our church. In time some of these theonomists advanced in their thinking to become neo-Steelite “Covenanters,” insisting, among other things, that we must embrace the Solemn League and Covenant as binding for us and for all North America as a British plantation. When their new position was resisted by the leadership, these men abruptly withdrew from our church.
Aside from these early disturbances, we have enjoyed the greatest measure of peace and unity among ourselves. The session has emphasized finding “the way of peace,” that is, looking for a way to find common ground for our church practice rather than allowing differences to harden and cause divisions among us. Some members of our church family are compelled by personal convictions to live among us as adherents rather than as communicant members, but that has not proven disruptive to our church life.
Church finances have never been a problem for our congregation, thanks to the faithfulness of the Lord and the generosity of our members. We have been entirely self-sustaining from the beginning. We have met the modest goals of our annual budget very consistently, aside from a brief period when our minister’s salary had to be reduced by 15% due to shortfalls in receipts. One Sabbath each month collections are taken for a particular cause, such as a local rescue mission or one of the denominational agencies. A collection for our local deacon fund is taken at each communion service. Beginning at the end of 2005, we have set aside a percentage of surplus funds on hand at year’s end for a building fund, should we ever find it necessary or desirable to buy or build a facility of our own.
OUR MEETING PLACES
We are grateful to Baker Book House for permission to use their facilities for no less than six months at no cost to us. We are also grateful to Rev. Jeff Carlson and the session of Oakhill Presbyterian Church for permission to use their building for special services and weekday meetings, also at no cost to us, on a permanent basis. In the fall of 2000 we began holding our Sabbath day services in the gymnasium of Calvin Christian Middle School, 3750 Ivanrest Avenue SE, Grandville, MI; and in the years that followed we enjoyed a very happy working relationship with our landlords, the Calvin Christian School Association, and their administrative staff.
Late in the year 2006, one of our members, Nathan Eshelman, a student at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, was asked by the seminary administrator if we would be interested in meeting in the seminary chapel. It was decided to hold a trial service there on the National Day of Thanksgiving, Nov. 23. Everyone was delighted with the chapel as a setting for public worship, and so it was decided to move our few possessions from Calvin Christian Middle School to the seminary without further delay. So it came about that each Sabbath we now hold our services of worship and Sabbath School classes in the beautiful facilities of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, at 2965 Leonard Street NE.
THE PROBLEM OF ISOLATION
At the time we were organized as an Associate Reformed Presbyterian congregation, there were high hopes for the future of the ARPC in Michigan. Some existing congregations were considering uniting with the ARPC, and other fellowships, not yet organized as churches, were looking into the ARP option. These hopes sadly came to naught, and we found ourselves isolated from the main body of the ARPC, especially after the separation of the Canadian congregations from Northeast Presbytery to form a presbytery of their own in Canada.
As a result of our geographical isolation, our session sent no ruling elder delegates to meetings of Northeast Presbytery during the years of our connection with it. Since Rev. Lanning had to attend meetings of presbytery and the General Synod at his own expense, he found it difficult to do so consistently.
So it came about that our minister and session were chronically in default of their obligation to attend the courts of the church. Even more significantly, since Rev. Lanning was virtually the only one of us who had personal experience of the wider life of the denomination, being “ARP” meant very little to most of the membership. Increasingly we lived as, and felt ourselves to be, an independent church.
The situation became more acute when one of our members, Nathan Eshelman, began to attend Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary full-time to train for the ministry. It did not seem practical for Nathan to apply to Northeast Presbytery to be taken under care as a student, the first step on the road to ordination as a minister of the Word. Nathan felt that the Lord was leading him in a different direction, to ministry in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America.
Our isolation and the problems related to it were discussed at two successive annual meetings of the congregation, in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 Rev. Lanning proposed that we ask to be added to the churches of the new Canadian Presbytery, but that suggestion was not met with any great warmth of approbation among the rest of us. Connection with the Canadian churches would not fully overcome the problem of geography that confronted us.
“MEET THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS”
By December 2006, we had begun to look in a new direction. We learned that our congregation was encircled by Reformed Presbyterian congregations, all within a two-hour drive by car, more or less, in all directions of the compass: Hetherton, MI; Southfield, MI; Belle Center, OH; Elkhart, IN; Lafayette, IN; South Bend, IN; and Prairie View, IL. All these congregations belong to Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery, RPCNA.
Nathan Eshelman attended the fall meeting of Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery, held in the Southfield Reformed Presbyterian Church, Southfield, Michigan. He brought back a glowing report and asked the session to consider uniting with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. The possibility was discussed at the annual meeting of the congregation, and it was agreed to invite representatives of Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery to visit us and present the life and work of their denomination to our congregation.
The proposed meeting was scheduled for the month of February 2007. Accordingly, on the four Sabbaths of February, in our Adult Sabbath School class, Rev. Lanning set aside the study of the Larger Catechism to take up the questions of the importance of a denominational connection, and how to evaluate a denomination with an eye to uniting with it. Nathan Eshelman supplied us with basic information about the RPCNA, and told us how to learn more “online.” Various members of the congregation who had had personal contact with the RPCNA were encouraged to tell us what they knew about the strengths and weaknesses of the denomination.
On Wednesday, February 28, 2007, the members and adherents of our congregation were invited to “Meet the Reformed Presbyterians” in the seminary chapel. The public meeting was preceded by a “get acquainted” dinner hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Lanning for the members of session and their wives, and four members of the “Grand Rapids Commission” appointed by Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery: Rev. Keith Magill, Rev. Dr. Roy Blackwood, Rev. James Faris, and Ruling Elder Jim Curtis. A fifth commissioner, Ruling Elder Robert Bibby, could not be present due to other obligations.
The public meeting featured a very effective “Power Point” presentation given by Dr. Roy Blackwood, briefly reviewing the history of the RPCNA, explaining its distinctive principles, and introducing us to the work of the denomination and the churches of Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery. Afterwards, Rev. Keith Magill and Rev. Lanning co-chaired a “Q & A” session. Rev. Lanning posed questions submitted by the congregation, and Rev. Magill called on the various members of the commission to answer them.
Three particular concerns were presented to the Commission at that time. First, it is the united conviction of our session and congregation that women may not serve in the office of deacon, contrary to statement in the RP Testimony asserting that they may. The commissioners assured us that many RPs shared our conviction, and we would be allowed to take exception to that part of the Testimony if we were received into the presbytery.
Second, we are very satisfied with our present book of praise, The Psalter of 1912, and are not of a mind to exchange it for another. Would we be required to use The Book of Psalms for Singing, published by the RPCNA in 1973? The commissioners assured us that there is no such requirement in the RPCNA.
Third, we are used to a system of voluntary giving to denominational causes in the ARPC; whereas the RPCNA has a system of mandatory per capita assessments for the presbytery and the synod. The commissioners explained that these assessments are modest in size, and directly benefit the local churches in particular ways; for example, the travel expense of delegates to presbytery and synod is paid by those courts, not by the local church. In response to a question from Rev. Lanning, Rev. Magill assured us that to the best of his knowledge no congregation has ever been punished or cast out of the RPCNA for not paying these assessments.
WE SEND DELEGATES TO PRESBYTERY
The first meetings with the Grand Rapids Commission were most encouraging. It began to seem that the RPCNA and Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery would be a good home for our congregation. The Spring Meeting of GL/G Presbytery was appointed for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 29, 30 & 31, 2007, in Columbus, Indiana. The commission invited us to send delegates to the meeting at no expense to our church, as the guests of the presbytery.
Rev. Lanning, Ruling Elder Doug Sikma, and Seminarian Nathan Eshelman drove down to Columbus to find accommodation in the home of Columbus RPC pastor Andrew McCracken, and to sit in on the sessions of presbytery for Thursday and part of Friday. Because it was a stated meeting, the docket was crowded with all the business of a presbytery, including sermons to hear, examinations to administer, reports to receive, etc. A striking feature, and really the principle business of the meeting, was to hear reports on the life, work and needs of each congregation in the presbytery. GL/G Presbytery has a very pastoral, fraternal, family-style way of going about the business of the church. We soon felt a spiritual kinship with these “fathers and brethren.”
On Thursday morning the Grand Rapids Commission was called on to give its report, and Rev. Lanning was introduced to presbytery. He briefly indicated our reasons for seeking a new denominational connection, and identified some of our particular concerns about the RPCNA, including the matter of our book of praise. Time passed and according to the order of the day, the presbytery had to take up other matters. Presbytery returned to the report of the commission in the afternoon, and Rev. Lanning was asked to give more information about The Psalter of 1912, and field questions from the presbyters.
Finally, on Thursday evening, the Presbytery once more took up the commission’s report. A member of the court posed a question for Rev. Lanning: “What can we do for you tonight?” He replied, “I want you to put me in the happy position of being able to return to our people in Grand Rapids and tell them that our preferred book of praise need not stand in the way of being received into the RPCNA.”
Accordingly Presbytery declared and recorded its finding the worship practice of the Associate Reformed Church of Grand Rapids (including, of course, the use of The Psalter of 1912) to be in accord with the Directory for the Worship of God of the RPCNA. In deliberating this action, members of the presbytery expressed their concern that the provisions of the Directory not be read in a denominational way, but more broadly and ecumenically; that The Psalter of 1912 should be recognized as a version “approved by the church,” even if the courts that approved it (the General Assembly of the UPCNA, the Synod of the CRCNA, et al.) were not those of the RPCNA.
THE CONGREGATION REQUESTS TRANSFER
Our delegates to the presbytery meeting returned home to give a very positive report to our session, and in due course, the session recommended to the congregation that our minister and our congregation request to be transferred from the jurisdiction of Northeast Presbytery, ARPC, to that of Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery, RPCNA. At meeting of the congregation on Wednesday, May 23, 2007, this recommendation was adopted, and the request for transfer was speedily transmitted to Northeast Presbytery. The presbytery replied that we were free to ask to be received into Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery as pastor and congregation, and if GL/G Presbytery consented to have us, we would be transferred as a matter of course.
The Grand Rapids Commission swung into action to prepare the way for us to be received into Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery. Rev. Lanning was asked to meet with the Commission and the Candidates & Credentials Committee to come to a joint meeting at Asbury College, Wilmore, KY, where the presbytery’s COVFAMIKOI Family Conference was in full swing. He sustained a thorough examination, witnessed by his son, James Lanning, Nathan Eshelman, and Shawn Anderson, who were attending the family conference as well. Plans were made for the next step in the process, an official visitation to our congregation by the Commission in early September.
The presence of Shawn Anderson at the family conference was cause for rejoicing in our congregation. Shawn was one of the two men mentioned above who adopted the views of the neo-Steelites and abruptly left our congregation in 2000. Shawn moved to Albany, NY, to unite with a neo-Steelite church there. As the years passed, Shawn came to question the arbitrary way the authority of the church session was exercised, and how it was used to silence dissent; as well as the extreme position of the church with regard to the binding character of the Solemn League and Covenant. Late in 2006, Shawn and his wife, Tammy, along with others, were summarily excommunicated from their church, for refusing to take an oath of abject submission to the session, and asking for explanations of actions of the session. Shawn contacted our session, asking to be reconciled to our church. Tammy asked to be received as a communicant member. In the judgment of our session, the Andersons were victims of the unrighteous use of church discipline, and on Tuesday, August 7, 2007, the session joyfully acted to reconcile Shawn, and admit Tammy, to communicant membership in the Associate Reformed Church of Grand Rapids.
THE COMMISSION’S VISITATION
The proposed visitation took place on the weekend of September 7, 8 & 9, 2007. In preparation the communicant members were asked to write out their Christian testimonies, to be presented for information to the commission. The commission met with Rev. Lanning and our officers on Friday evening, to review our membership roll, to examine the officers, and to discuss one more concern that we had regarding the Constitution of the RPCNA, the claim asserted by the denomination on the property or real estate of the local church.
On Saturday the commission divided into two groups to meet with the members and families of the congregation at the seminary building. Later in the day commissioners visited the homes of members who found it inconvenient to come to the seminary building. These meetings were times of great refreshment and help for our members, who greatly valued the pastoral approach taken by the commissioners in seeking to become better acquainted with us.
Sabbath morning and afternoon, the commissioners worshipped with our congregation. The sacrament of Holy Baptism was administered to Watson Truth Eshelman, infant son of Nathan and Lydia Eshelman, affording the commissioners opportunity to witness our manner of administering the sacraments, in this case, using the Form for Baptism in The Psalter, familiar to many of us from childhood as part of the Liturgy of the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands. Rev. Lanning preached from Ps. 147:13 and Mark 10: 10:13-16, on Christ’s willingness to receive and bless our children. A covered-dish fellowship luncheon between the services gave us further opportunity to get to know our RP brethren.
“FIRST REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH”
In taking leave of our congregation, the Grand Rapids Commission declared their intention to recommend that we be received into Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery. In due course a meeting of presbytery was called for Friday and Saturday, October 25 & 26, 2007, to be held in Grand Rapids. Two matters remained to be addressed: the issue of property ownership, and the matter of choosing a new name for our congregation.
An appeal for suggested new names yielded a list of more than forty possibilities. Out of these suggestions, our session selected a list of seven to put before the congregation. In balloting on Sabbath, October 14, 2007, a majority of votes was cast for “FIRST REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.”
At a meeting of our session on Monday, October 22, 2007, with Rev. Keith Magill, it was agreed that a motion would be brought before GL/G Presbytery, that in the event that our congregation should obtain, in an orderly way, the consent of presbytery to be released from its jurisdiction, we would be free to leave with our property, provided that any funds borrowed from presbytery or synod were repaid at that time. This motion laid to rest our concern over possible infringement on our rights to any land or buildings we may acquire in the future.
OUR RECEPTION INTO PRESBYTERY
Much had to be done to prepare for the meeting of presbytery in Grand Rapids. We obtained permission to use the Free Reformed Church, 950 Ball Avenue NE. We located no less than 29 billets to house the delegates. Our fellowship committee made plans for meals, coffee and tea breaks, and a special feast to be hosted by the presbytery for the members and friends of our congregation. Rev. Keith Magill arrived Monday, October 22, as “advance man,” and spent the better part of two days at the home of the Lannings, to complete all the necessary arrangements.
Presbytery was constituted on Friday morning, October 16. Rev. Lanning preached from Psalm 68:19, and after further examination was received by transfer into the presbytery. The Grand Rapids Commission presented its report, and presbytery voted to receive our congregation, also by transfer from Northeast Presbytery, ARPC. At six o’clock on Friday evening, the presbytery sat down to dine on loin of pork and roasted potatoes, with nearly all the members of our congregation, and many friends, filling the long tables in the fellowship hall of the Free Reformed Church, in all a company of just under 100 persons.
Public worship commenced shortly after seven-thirty PM in the sanctuary upstairs, with the singing of Psalm 122 from Psalter No. 348:
With joy and gladness in my soul, I hear the call to prayer;
Let us go up to God’s own house, and bow before Him there.
The presbytery was constituted as a court by the Moderator, Rev. David Smith, and the assembled congregation called to worship, with the singing of Psalter No. 238, “Zion, Founded on the Mountains” (Ps. 87). Rev. Lanning was called on to introduce the preacher, Rev. Dr. David P. Murray of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and to read the Scripture lesson. Dr. Murray preached from Mark 1:21 & 22, on “How to Astonish the World,” emphasizing the authority of Christ in His preaching, and how that authority needs to be present in our preaching of God’s Word today. In response, using Psalter No. 264 (Ps. 98), the congregation declared in song:
The great salvation of our God is seen through all the earth abroad;
Before the nations’ wond’ring sight, He has revealed His truth and might.
Ruling Elder Jim Curtis read a narration of the steps that had brought both congregation and presbytery to this point, tracing God’s leading and guidance therein. Rev. James Faris and Rev. Lanning introduced all the members of the congregation, and Rev. Faris administered the vows of the Covenant of Communicant Membership. Rev Magill and Ruling Elder Robert Bibby introduced our officers and administered the ordination vows appropriate to each. Together the congregation and officers accepted the RP Church Covenant, and so we were received into Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery, with the singing of Psalm 133.
Although hindered by back trouble that kept him in a wheelchair, Dr. Roy Blackwood got to his feet and took the pulpit to deliver a charge to the congregation and officers, urging that this new relationship be made to work in both ways, for the greater good of both congregation and presbytery. The congregation accepted the challenge and all joined in offering the prayer of Psalm 67 (Psalter No. 176):
O God to us show mercy and bless us in Thy grace;
Cause Thou to shine upon us the brightness of Thy face;
That so Thy way most holy on earth may soon be known,
And unto every nation Thy saving grace be shown.
The meeting of presbytery was adjourned with prayer by the moderator, and Rev. Lanning pronounced the benediction. The service concluded with the singing of the doxology from Psalm 72, Psalter No. 197. So began a new chapter in our life together as a congregation, as First Reformed Presbyterian Church. (Last Revised: 11-09-07)
